Saturday, 18 June 2011

On the eve of World Refugee Day, which is marked on 20 June, the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) is taking charge of supporting the asylum processes of the EU. The current discriminatory and incoherent provision of protection across the EU and the lack of expertise on gender-related persecutions are putting individuals at risk.

If the EASO is to ensure that the EU fulfils its obligations to protecting all those at risk whether man, woman, gay, lesbian or transgender, a set of recommendations (attached), produced by a coalition formed by ILGA-Europe, the European Women’s Lobby and Amnesty International’s End Female Genital Mutilation European Campaign, must be translated into practice by the new agency.

The European Asylum Support Office will provide asylum expertise, conduct comparative research, collate country of origin information, gather existing practices, and provide training and guidelines for national asylum authorities.

The coalition calls on the EASO to work against discrimination in asylum procedures and to ensure that gender, sexual orientation and gender identity perspectives are embedded equally in the structure and the work of the EASO.

Current asylum procedures in the EU are generally lacking gender, sexual orientation and gender identity awareness: training on questioning techniques is inadequate, and the knowledge and understanding of persecutions on the basis of gender, sexual orientation and gender identity remains low. For instance, a Christian woman was not granted asylum by the Belgian asylum system because they mistakenly believe Christian girls and women not to be at risk of female genital mutilation (FGM).

Linda Freimane, Co-Chair of ILGA-Europe’s Executive Board, said:

“In April 2011, the European Parliament adopted a report on asylum procedures which contains a number of measures taking into consideration special needs due to the gender, sexual orientation and/or gender identity of individuals claiming asylum in the EU. We believe the European Asylum Support Office has a crucial role to play to make sure that, in practice, women, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex (LGBTI) asylum seekers are being treated in non-discriminatory, sensitive and fair manner. We are open to work with the Office and provide any required information, assistance and advice.”

“The EU must not further marginalize the marginalized. Instances of lack of expertise on gender-related persecutions are endangering girls and women at risk of FGM by returning them to countries where they are at risk of this human rights violation.”

Cécile Gréboval, EWL Secretary General, said:

“The opening of the European Asylum Support Office represents a key opportunity to support Member States in ensuring that all women victims of gender-based persecutions will see their asylum applications being treated fairly in all EU countries which is far from being the case at the moment. We welcome the fact that the EU has committed to mainstream gender equality in the Common European Asylum System. The time has come to put into place mechanisms to reach this objective.”

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